


Enemy Vine

by bookscorpion



Series: Changing of the Light [4]
Category: Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Genre: Duncan gets to do some detective work, Fluff, M/M, No beta we die like mne, Plants, he'll always be a cop at heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 16:59:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19380943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookscorpion/pseuds/bookscorpion
Summary: There are more shards and soil scattered all over the floor, with a little succulent amidst it, translucent leaves broken off, moisture bleeding from the wounds.With Rhys' plants in his care, Duncan has to solve the case of the Mysterious Falling Succulent.





	Enemy Vine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blueandie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueandie/gifts).



  


Still half asleep, Duncan blinks in the early morning light flooding the kitchen when something crunches under his foot.

'FUCK!'

A sharp pain and he's hopping on one foot, a shard stuck in the other. He leans against the wall to pull the shard out, blood seeping from the cut. There are more shards and soil scattered all over the floor, with a little succulent amidst it, translucent leaves broken off, moisture bleeding from the wounds.

'Aw, no...' Rhys has left the plants in his care for two weeks while he's away on business and now this. The succulent is a new arrival and Rhys had been very excited about it, has told Duncan about how rare it is.

Duncan assumes that he probably placed the pot too close to the edge of the shelf after watering it and it finally tipped over in the night. He goes to treat the cut on his foot and then cleans up the mess in the kitchen. While he's repotting the plant, he apologises to it for being so careless. 

Two days later, it's on the floor again.

Duncan is _sure_ he put it in a safe place this time. No other plant on the shelf has fallen. He looks at them thoughtfully and a slight movement catches his eye. The vine at the other end of the shelf seems to quiver.

_What the..._

Duncan repots the succulent again. This time, he puts all the cushions from the couch on the floor beneath the shelf. He also leaves his comlink in the kitchen with the camera pointed at the plants. 

The next morning, the plant is on the floor again, unharmed after the cushions broke its fall. Duncan checks his comlink and sees a whole lot of nothing on the recording until at 3am, the vine starts to move. Its tendrils creep over to the succulent and shove it off the shelf. Then it coils around its trellis again.

Duncan looks up and stares at the vine. It doesn't move. He steps closer and glares at it like it's a suspect during an interrogation. Maybe he imagines it, but the tendrils do seem to curl tighter around the trellis.

'I know what you did. What, did you two get into an argument? Or did it just look at you the wrong way? Wrong shade of green?' Duncan points dramatically at the fallen plant and feels slightly ridiculous. 

The vine rustles its leaves very quietly. Duncan takes that as a confession. Not that he needs one in the face of such damning evidence. He picks the succulent up, gives it a little pat in full view of the vine and then takes it with him to the bedroom, puts it on the windowsill there. 

It stays there and Duncan talks to it every day to make it feel better. It seems to work because at the end of the fortnight, it has produced a flower. Rhys is delighted when he comes back and sees the bloom but does ask Duncan what happened to it. He listens to the whole story over breakfast. When Duncan has finished, he shifts nervously, he still feels responsible for the succulent getting hurt. 

Rhys looks at him, frowning. 'Are you sure the evidence wasn't...planted?'

The vine flutters its leaves disapprovingly as Rhys flees the kitchen, chased by Duncan, and breathless laughter from the living room marks the end of the chase.

art by [Tshortik](https://tshortik.carrd.co/)

**Author's Note:**

> The succulent is a [Haworthia cooperi.](https://duckduckgo.com/?t=palemoon&q=Haworthia+cooperi++flower&iax=images&ia=images) [photo source for the cover](https://www.flickr.com/photos/mouldfish/372341496/)
> 
> Inspired by a comment by [Blueandie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueandie/pseuds/blueandie) about plants being argumentative :D


End file.
